Va'eira(Exodus 6:2-9:35)

Animal Rights

"And God said to Moses, Speak to Aharon, Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt.... And they shall become blood..."

Rashi: "Since the river protected Moses when he was thrown into it, therefore it was not struck by him... but was struck by Aharon." (Exodus 7:19)

My wife still talks about her encounter with a card carrying member of the animal rights movement. In what she thought was an innocent question, "What do you feed your cat?" her opponent took as a full frontal attack of her values. Seeing as most cat food includes animals, how does a true believer feed their cat?

There is clearly a different morality of animal rights and what is often called a humanist.

No moral person is at peace with the genocides of Darfur, Bosnia, or Rwanda. We may not feel motivated to march on their behalf, but we still think something should be done to prevent such tragedies.

Yet mention the wanton butchering of the Serengeti gazelles, or the recent massacre of the King George Island Penguins and you will have even a PETA member scratching his head - "Did I miss that one?"

Yes you did. That's because the gazelles suffered their fate at the hand (paws) of the Serengeti lions and the Penguins met their end with the leopard seal.

You might say it's a circle of life thing, but it doesn't matter how many birds eat worms, cats eat the mice, or alligators chomp on wild hogs, nobody is calling for a cessation of violence here. Fundamentally, animal rights has nothing to do with any concern for animals.

Just like Moses didn't want to hit the water, but if he really cared about the water, he wouldn't have let Aharon hit it either. So too, if anyone really cared about cattle, they wouldn't just protest their slaughter in a third world abattoir, they would also save them from dismemberment by the mountain lions in the hills of Montana.

It's not the animals we are trying to protect, they can eat each other for as long as National Geographic has film in their cameras. It's humans Green Peace is really trying to protect.

There is a real difference between how a human kills a cow and how a lion performs that same act. No member of the animal rights movement is calling for a world wide sanctuary for sheep, mice, penguins, or even worms, free from lions, cats, seals and the early morning bird. That's because, that's what cats do, and that was actually the answer my wife got.

And humans don't. Why?

Because when humans do, it's not the animal that suffers the most, it's the human.

Many people are familiar with the famous Jewish tradition to cover the bread as we make the Shabbat blessing on wine. During the week, bread is usually blessed first, and so that it shouldn't see it's deferral to second place, we cover it up. Obviously, being eaten is not such a problem.

But again, all these rich and elaborate traditions point to the overall emphasis that Judaism is trying to imbue on us all, empathy.

Believe me when I tell you, I have seen enough war movies that I really think I could pilot a plane. However, such confidence is soon dispelled in the cockpit of a flight simulator - and that's the reason they have such devices, reality is always more difficult than the fiction we create in our minds.

Just as we need a flight simulator for flying we also need one for marriage, children, neighbors, friends, well really for all our personal interactions.

Before we let you express yourself to another person, practice on some life simulators.

Animals, bread and water.

Wherever we can, practice, practice and practice. This involves killing animals in the most sensitive manner possible, eating bread in ways that show understanding of what it is like to be ignored, and even smite water to bring out your sense of gratitude.

And when you get that right, then you are ready to get married, have children and be part of human society.

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BRAINSTORMING QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Question 1: You see a fox cornering a rabbit - ready to pounce. Would you intervene to save the rabbit? Does it bother you that the fox has young that will go hungry if you save the rabbit?

Question 2: Your country has a surplus of grain that will just rot. A country in Africa is suffering from a poor harvest and many people will go without food. Would you support sending the grain to them for free?

Question 3: If you don't send the grain, 100,000 people will die? If you do send it, the farmers of that country will go broke because the price of grain will collapse, making the famine continue longer. Now what do you do?

Visitor Comments: 7

We should have faith that there is a way for us to supply the starving with grain without destroying the local market. It is our obligation to work toward finding and implementing such a solution.

(6)
Anonymous,
January 20, 2012 10:37 PM

Is it just me...

...Or does this article seem somewhat pointless?
Animals are expected to eat animals, and according to the Talmud, people are also expected to eat animals. It's the unusual abuse of animals that needs to be prevented, which doesn't apply to the animal kingdom and for humans is protected against in kosher laws.
As for the quandary presented in the second and third brainstorming questions... Since price is determined by supply and demand, we'd be able to donate surplus farm products to Africa without affecting their prices if we were to also increase demand. A great way of doing this would be to introduce and/or advance biofuel technology in Africa and donate only those crops that can be used to produce them (which include wheat and corn). This system would help address probably the two most critical shortages in Africa.

(5)
David K.,
January 20, 2012 3:17 PM

Non-human animals are without ethcial obligations- not bound by mitzvot

HaShem provided humans with choice and the ability to forego personal pleasure if the pursuit of such pleasure causes suffering to others. If one can sustain one’s life by eating foods that minimize the suffering of animals “manufactured” in “food factories” (as so much beef and chicken are today), I think it is a Kiddush HaShem to do so- if not a mitzvah. We should not seek to compare ourselves to animals that lack the capacities and obligations with which humans are blessed.

(4)
Noa,
January 20, 2012 1:25 PM

Animals

Yes I would intervene to save the rabbit from the fox. My husband, a month ago, was on patrol when he saw a cat carrying a young rabbit in it's mouth. My husband chased off the cat and saved the rabbit. he brought it home to me. I am a veterinary nurse and I had the rabbit's wonds stiched and kept it with me for a week giving it antibiotics and hand feeding it. When the vet said it was healed enough we released it. I know I can't save every rabbit but if the situation presents itself I will intervene. The fox will find another rabbit for her family. Animals eat other animals, it's true. However as human beings we have a choice in the food we consume. Animals are precious gifts from G-d. I personally feel obligated to protect them.

(3)
ruth housman,
December 26, 2010 11:17 PM

animal rights

I am sorry, I think your analogy has serious flaws. I think we do need to think deeply about conservation, about the animals. If the animals do eat each other, and surely we do, too, being animals, well I could say, perhaps vegetarians are taking the higher road.
I am not a vegetarian and yet I do know I am a hypocrite, because I could not kill to eat. I really couldn't. My daughter who decided on humanitarian principles to be a vegetarian as age nine, I could say is doing something holy, and I do deeply feel this. Because all creation is wholly sensate and needs attention.
There is this prophecy that is in Isaiah, about a time when the lion lies down with the lamb, and that prophesy could apply to us as well, as there are profound metaphoric connects that do run up and down ALL creation.
If this happened, then, we would not be at war, and neither would animals eat each other. Could we imagine such a world. What are the implications of this prophesy and could it ever happen and would we want this to happen?
There is a dearth of articles on Aish about our sacred duty to protect our environment, meaning the oceans, the terra firma on which we live and eat.
Yes we need to kill humanely if we eat, but also we do not do as much as we can, as Jews, to promote the notion of adamah of earth, of Adam's very name, and how we do need to sanctify all creatures, great and small.

(2)
harold,
January 13, 2010 5:51 PM

yes I would send the grain

yes i would send the grain but i would also send a way that they change there way of livivg hopfully for the better so they can support them sevles better to......in every problem there is aways can be a change for the better so they return back in other ways

About the Author

Originally from London, Rabbi Stephen Baars resides in Washington D.C. and serves as Executive Director of Aish Seminars. He did nine years of post-graduate studies at the Aish HaTorah Rabbinical College in Jerusalem, and has been an educator and marriage counselor for the past 20 years. He is creator of the BLISS seminar, which was awarded a Federal Grant to help reduce the divorce rate in Washington DC. He studied and performed comedy in Los Angeles, and is known for imparting important ideas with creativity and humor. Rabbi Baars and his wife, Ruth, are blessed with seven children.